I don't think we've been this close to a full-scale nuclear exchange since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
There has been a full-scale nuclear exchange, but the weather was so bad that few bombs reached their targets.
A full-scale nuclear exchange.
Remember," Herbie said, "this facility was intended for use in a full-scale U.S.-Soviet nuclear exchange.
This meant that the Soviets could launch a limited attack against an ally, leaving the U.S. with the choice of backing down, or accepting a full-scale exchange.
Speculation began to run towards what fallout and dust from a full-scale nuclear exchange would do to the world as a whole, rather than just cities and countries directly involved.
It would be as mad as a full-scale nuclear exchange in the 1980s, so I don't expect it, even in light of today's crisis.
Either a limited or full-scale nuclear exchange could occur during an accidental nuclear war, in which the use of nuclear weapons is triggered unintentionally.
It was thought that any full-scale exchange between the powers could not produce a victorious side, and thus neither would willingly risk initiating one.
The acute danger of any use of nuclear weapons is that this could escalate to a full-scale strategic exchange between the superpowers.